bloody rugby mate

i would be remiss if i didn't at least write a blog post acknowledging the rugby world cup because it's a pretty big deal here right now. the whole country has gone kind of nuts for it, i mean i know so many people that aren't interested in rugby in the slightest that are real into it now. my friends were watching the semi-final the other night in the lounge and they were yelling and cheering and i was like who are you even. last night this drunk ass lady started talking to me about how she was just really proud to be a kiwi via the rugby, she said that like three times, kind of freaked me out. idk, i feel proud to be a kiwi regardless of our rugby team winning the finals. surely our rugby team isn't representative of our value as an entire nation?

just the amount of flags around are really daunting, they are everywhere, on cars, houses, shops, fashioned into capes. it takes a bit of getting used to, as flags are traditionally located 'up a flag pole' and even then, you don't even really see that much. i mean i think nzers are real stoked to be kiwis but aren't really obnoxious about it except when it comes to sports, for whatever reason. i keep thinking about "being a sports fan", and feel like it isn't really a mentality i can get into to any large degree because i just don't care about winning. honestly, i would have felt the same way if australia won. australia is pretty okay. however, i do think it's nice how nzers are so into it and it seems to make them really happy that we did get into the finals. like i guess it would be a more bleak environment to be in if we lost. like i was in town the other night when wales had just lost the semi-finals and there were some welsh people around that just looked sad as hell. really felt for those guys. people seem to invest so much into this, especially because a lot of people have traveled from all around the world to be here.

going into the city is kind of overwhelming because there are probably 10x the amount of people. i have been avoiding wearing berets ever since i wore one the night that france was playing and got mixed up in a crowd of other people wearing berets and chanting what i can only assume was the french national anthem. just wearing it for fashion, chill out. but there is that sense of community and togetherness even though a lot of the time i am thinking "plz get the fuck away from me" whenever i see a swarm of rugby fans coming towards me. before the rugby world cup millions were spent on cleaning up the city, especially the waterfront, and it makes things seem foreign. the other day I was walking around and felt like a tourist because there were so many new things and so many people it just didn't feel like auckland. felt kind of cool though.

the game itself i don't know much about. basically i've never watched more than 30 seconds of a rugby game in my entire life and i'm not going to start now. i've got a good thing going here. i've never really been exposed to rugby like most other kiwis because my parents are into league so I've watched that. rugby is very similar to rugby league, i feel one can safely assume, just how they differ is not really my area of expertise. there is this wikipedia page explaining the differences but i mean i couldn't really get through it. pretty sure there's more kicking in rugby and something to do with a scrum. how weird are scrums, like i don't even know how that is a thing. so people pass the ball to each other and try not to get tackled and to get points they put the ball across the goal line or whatever. in the finals nz are playing france. i'll be watching doctor who on my laptop or something. tell me how it goes.